Perspective 2030 is the future

At the second edition of the HollandCity Global Travel Trade Show, Jos Vranken, Managing Director, NBTC Holland Marketing, shared details on ‘Perspective 2030’, a new vision report of the Netherlands as a destination.

Manas Dwivedi

NBTC Holland Marketing had released a report detailing the effects of tourism on the nation and how the tourism landscape will change over the next 10 years. Jos Vranken shared that the report laid out some important goals that international tourism provides, including enhancing the Dutch identity, improving liveability for locals, helping to realise their sustainability objectives, and creating valuable employment opportunities. “It is something we facilitated and co-created with stakeholders within and outside the industry. We asked them how they would look at a future-proof Holland by 2030; this is how ‘Perspective 2030’ was born.”

We are looking at families and smaller groups who, together with the travel trade or independently, make choices on what to do and what to see in The Netherlands

Vranken said that while they are keen on promoting a variety of target groups, one thing they all have in common is the ability to make their own choice. “We look at FIT travel a lot. We are looking at families and smaller groups who, together with the travel trade or independently, make choices on what to do and what to see in The Netherlands. So, people who are curious and have the ability to go off the beaten track would be ideal,” he shared.

Plans for expansion in the Indian market

At the moment, NBTC Holland Marketing is renegotiating its partnership with the national government. “The Dutch government is also setting parameters for our mandates. We are in the process of redefining the parameters for partnership with the government, which will determine the choices we are going to make in the next few years. In general terms, I can say that we always closely monitor markets that are emerging, from a Dutch perspective. India is one of those markets with huge growth numbers in terms of percentage over the last few years. So, we need to carefully assess where the Indian market can be a part and remain the business mix of The Netherlands in terms of our marketing efforts, which will be determined by our new contract and parameters with the government. We are in the process of getting a clear picture on how the next four years will look,” Vranken concluded.

Key takeaways

• Tourism needs to be looked at not only as a goal, but also as a transformative power or a driver of change in other areas of society as In other words, it must be established what tourism can do as a means to an end rather than the goal itself and how it can contribute to other domains, other challenges that the country is facing.
• We need to look at shared interests rather than sectoral or economic In other words, we really need to consider the interest of citizens of The Netherlands, employees of companies, and visitors coming to the country. Residents, in particular, have not been involved in planning the future of the destination, and the society’s interests must also be kept in mind.
• The regional and local tourist boards need to change from being promotional bodies to managerial instead of just promoting the destination, they must work towards managing future growth. They must be more attentive for research and data analyses, more attentive to the development of the destination and to the positioning of The Netherlands, and conduct more targeted promotions to get new destinations on a platform and make them popular.